Friday, 11 February 2011

Murrini Madness

So another week has shot by and the house is still not fully unpacked and the flooring is still not down in the studio but this hasn't stopped me from lighting the torch! I have been experimenting with Murrine this week.

I did a course in October with Astrid Reidel which I mentioned in last weeks blog and made Murrini for the first time. I have not had a chance to experiment with them so this was the week and I am hooked!

So what is Murrine? Well Wikipedia has given me this explanation

Murrine (common pluralization murrini) is an Italian term for colored patterns or images made in a glass cane (long rods of glass) that are revealed when cut in cross-sections. Murrine can be made in infinite designs—some styles are more familiar, such as millefiore. Artists working in glass design murrine in a variety of ways from simple circular or square patterns to complex detailed designs to even portraits of people. Murrine are designed by layering different colors of molten glass around a core, then heating and stretching it into a rod. When cool, the rod is sliced into cross-sections of desired thickness with each slice possessing the same pattern in cross-section.

The murrine process first appeared in the Mideast more than 4,000 years ago and was revived by Venetian glassmakers on Murano in the early 16th century.

It is abit like making a stick of seaside rock but with the added tension of having to do the work in a flame!! When you chop it up you have the same image or pattern in the chopped pieces which are called Murrine.

There are some amazing glass artist around who make the most fabulous murrine, like Ayako, just look at these beads some truly inspirational work here.

Now mine has a long way to go but I was rather pleased with this one, the yellow in it was an experiment and it worked!

I was also pleased with the top murrine in the photo below...I wanted to try and make a flower and had big purple irises in my mind and was surprised that there was a vague similarity!!

Now not everything in the Studio was rosy this week, I was working at the torch yesterday afternoon and heard a couple of clinks coming from the kiln and was so disappointed to find these casualties lying on the kiln floor!

That is the curse and the addictive part of lampworking, you have to go through so many processes to create one bead and all along the way there are so many different influences that can either help you create something special or destroy something you think is special. But that is the hook you just gotta keep on striving for better and better!!

Well that is all for this week all that remains is a little pic of Milly! Another of her with her friend Patrick! Have a lovely weekend and thanks for taking the time to read my blog x

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About Me

Hi my name is Jennie Lamb, I live and work in beautiful North Devon. My husband Ian and I live in Appledore with our bonkers Lakeland Terrier Milly.
I have a small studio which is open to the public during the summer season and by appointment out of season where you can watch me work and browse my beads.
I have always loved jewellery and glass in particular and as a child had a real addiction for paperweights, marbles and snow globes. I could spend hours escaping in my mind into the little world produced inside each and I love the texture of glass beads and marbles in your hand. That has never left me and following a lesson in lampwork with Manda Muddimer of Mango Beads in 2009 my glassy journey began.
I try and create in my beads a 3 dimensional quality that draws the viewer in and it is this and the reactive quality of glass that keeps me hooked.
I have been lucky enough to have done a few advanced workshops including classes with Astrid Reidel, Carli Di Francesco,Di East and Anouk Jaspere, Bronwen Heilman, Anita Schwegler, Jari Anne Sheese
I hope you enjoy my blog and if you need any further information on my work please do not hesitate to get in touch.